I awoke this morning to overcast skies and the gentle sound of very light rain just beginning which slowly intensified as I went through my morning routine of getting dressed, getting the dogs outside, brushing my teeth and making coffee.  By the time I entered my CoCoRaHS daily precipitation and evapotranspiration reports at 07:00 the precipitation had become steady although still fairly light.  Somehow these kinds of conditions seemed fitting to mark my first year as an Alaskan resident; in my first year I’ve seen a myriad of rainy days along with not enough snowy days or winter cold.  While I am currently completing a more detailed appraisal of my first ‘Alaskan’ year here are some thoughts:

• What do I most love about my rural Talkeetna lifestyle?  Very tough call…I’d say it’s a tie between the immense silence and the ever-present wildlife.
• What do I dislike the most about living in rural Talkeetna?  Another tie: I abhor the mosquitoes and I am sick to death of the lack of real darkness across the past three months!  The summer influx of tourists into Talkeetna ranks a very close second..!
• What do I most miss from my lower 48 life?  Actually almost nothing although once again it’s a tie, this time between personal interaction with so many friends I left behind and the absence of really severe weather up here in the form of thunderstorms and super-cell activity.
• What do I miss least about living in the lower 48?  This is impossible to answer with even five items although two major things that immediately came to mind were the congestion and the noise pollution.  Right behind would be 80+ F air temps, 70+ F dew points and light pollution.
• What has most surprised me about my new lifestyle?  So many things!  Despite my previous Alaskan experiences and all my planning I’d have to say my ill-preparedness for living semi-rural in south central Alaska.  And I’ve had invaluable help and advice from Holly (my good friend and realtor) along with so many other local folks.  I knew I’d have a huge learning curve but even so I grossly underestimated my lack of experience and knowledge.

Within the next few weeks I’ll follow this up with a much more detailed accounting.  And if I have one wish it’s that I see many, many more anniversaries in this amazing place!

A look out my door at a rainy August 6, 2014. Look closely at the plastic rain gauge and you can see a bit more than 0.11″ has accumulated since 07:00 this morning